Hackers reportedly knocked over the website of Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd for a few minutes on Wednesday in an apparent protest against government plans for compulsory internet content filtering.
The site of the Australian Communications and Media Authority also disappeared for about an hour Wednesday evening local …

I foresee a new group forming...

Well Done Anonymous -- Save Ferris too please!

Congratulations on behalf of all of us in Oz for your overnight pranks -- it was fitting in its efficiency and beautifully done to shut up the communications idio^minister and the like. Kevin 07, (in)security 09 couldn't have said it better lads, your fair shake of the sauce bottle is now done, and we'll put Barbie on the net and another sausage on for you.

All joking aside here folks, they did what many of us wanted done -- silenced a bunch of town idiots who have less clue about net neutrality and functionality than a single peon in the Chinese internet departments do.

Counterproductive

While I think the idea of a countrywide firewall of that sort is a really bad idea, not to mention pointless, I can't help but wonder whether mass hacking of government websites isn't going to confirm in the minds of ministers (and the people if it's spun right) that they need a firewall to protect them from this?

Anonymous

Bad idea

Clued people like myself and other Reg readers will know this isn't true, but as all pollies know, you can fool most of the people most of the time and that's usually enough. How easy would it be for Mr Rudd and Mr Conroy to point to the attacks and say "Look, this is a type of e-crime! Our filter stops some types of e-crime! Just imagine if that was your web site - and don't forget if you're a business you make money from your web site! You need our filter to protect your job!"

The proper way to stop this filter from happening is to dress up in a white lab coat, stand in front of a server farm and tell the Australian public that 1) it won't work and 2) it will make the internet crawl. Then tell them to write to their MP. Especially if their MP is one of the two holding the balance of power.

Il Midga di Macaroni

but no feature creep

>...filter would only block illegal content such as "imagery of child sexual abuse, rape and bestiality<

Didn't it just start with child abuse, now it includes S&M and bestiality (I'm assuming rape over the internet means fake non consensual sex vids n pics - unless their internet is far more advanced than ours).